Safety container for toxic substances



Nov. 11, 1969 J. 5. TRENT SAFETY CONTAINER FOR TOXIC SUBSTANCES 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July 21, 1967 m Q m." Mn 0 c s n h 0 J FIG.5.

Nov. 11, 1969 J. 5. TRENT I SAFETY CONTAINER FOR TOXIC SUBSTANCES 'neFfs-fiheet IO 28 John Scott Trent Filed July 21, 1967 FIG.4.

United States Patent 3,477,775 SAFETY CONTAINER FOR TOXIC SUBSTANCES John Scott Trent, P.O. Box 463, Atlanta, Ga. 30301 Filed July 21, 1967, Ser. No. 655,093 Int. Cl. A61b 19/02; A61c 19/02; Eb 37/00 US. Cl. 312-209 2 Claims .ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A safety containerfor toxic substances, wherein the container is of unitary construction and includes a front wall pivotally connected along its upper edge to a top wall. A combination lock is supported in the pivotal front wall which cooperates with a protrusion supported by the bottom wall. The hinge between the front wall and the top wall is formed by a crease, or area of reduced thickness, which delineates the top wall from the front wall. The hinge is constructed so that the front wall is normally positioned in its open'position unless locked in its closed position.

Background of the invention One of the major health hazards to children in the toddler age range is the presence of the various toxic substances maintained in the normal household. Such substances, such as common aspirin, cough syrups, sleeping pills, and various other necessary drugs, lotions and medicines, are normally maintained in a medicine cabinet in the bathroom. While the medicine cabinet is usually positioned over the sink and out of the normal reach of small children, children have been known to climb onto the sink and open the medicine cabinet to explore, and sometimes consume, the articles stored therein.

While various safety containers have been developed for medicine cabinets, the previously known safety containers have been inadequate because they are difficult to clean, or easily soiled, and the safety features of the containers are easily ignored by the adult users and lose their safety value. a

Summary of the invention This invention comprises a safety container for toxic substances which is of unitary construction and fabricated of polypropylene. The door of. the container is hingedly connected along its upper edge to the. front edge of the top wall of the container so that it pivots in an upward direction. The hinge line between the top .wall and front wall is created by an area of reduced thickness, and the front wall is normally maintained in a partially opened position by the natural resiliency of the hinge. A lock is positioned in the lower portion of the front wall and connects the front wall to the bottom wall to securely fasten the front wall in its closed position.

Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a safety container for toxic substances that is constructed to naturally prevent dust, dirt, or liquids from settling or falling into its enclosure, and which is easy to clean.

Another object of this invention is to provide a safety container for toxic substances which includes a door that is normally maintained in its opened position unless locked in its closed position.

Another object of this invention is to provide a safety container for the storage of toxic substances in a bathroom medicine cabinet wherein the container is constructed so that its door is biased to a partially opened position when not locked and will be urged toward its closed position by closing the door of the medicine cabinet.

3 ,417,775 Patented Nov. 11, 1969 Another object of this invention is to provide a safety container for toxic substances which is suificient for preventing children from gaining entrance to the container and yet is simple for an adult to operate.

Another object of this invention is to provide a safety container for toxic materials which is simple and inex pensive in construction.

Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent upon reading the following specification, when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing.

Brief description of the drawing FIG. 1 is a front view of a bathroom medicine cabinet and the safety container positioned therein.

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view, in cross section, of the safety container.

FIG. 3 is a front perspective view of the safety container.

FIG. 4 is a rear perspective view of the safety container.

FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view of the combination lock utilized with the safety container.

Description of the embodiment Referring now more particularly to the drawing, in which like numerals indicate like parts throughout the several views, FIG. 1 shows safety container 10 positioned in a bathroom medicine cabinet 11. Medicine cabinet 11 is of typical construction and includes bottom wall 12, side walls 14, top wall 15 and door 16. Door 16 is connected by means of hinge 18 to one of the side walls 14, and guide 19 is connected between door 16 and top wall 15 to limit the movement of door 16 with respect to the cabinet. Shelves 20 are adjustably supported by means of brackets 21 within the confines of the cabinet.

As is shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, safety container 10 includes bottom wall 24, side walls 25 and 26, back Wall 27, top wall 28, and front wall 29'. Partition 30 is joined to bottom wall 24, back wall 27 and top wall 28. Shelf 31 is joined to side wall 25, back wall 27 and partition 30. Walls 24-29, partition 30 and shelf 31 are of unitary construction and are fabricated of polypropylene. As is shown in FIG. 2, front wall 29 is connected along its upper edge to top wall 28, and the line of connection or hinge 32 includes a crease 34 extending upwardly into the lower or inside surfaces of front wall 29 and top wall 28. Thus, front wall 29 tends to pivot with respect to the remaining portion of the container about crease 34. Crease 34 extends the entire width of the container so that when front wall 29 is extended in a horizontal plane outwardly of the remaining portion of the container, its upper surface and the upper surface of top wall 28 form a continuous, unbroken imperforate surface.

Front wall 29 defines an aperture 35 (FIG. 2) through which combination lock (FIG. 5) extends. Lock 36 includes disc-shaped dial 38, stem 39, interior washer 40, first locking element 41, second locking element 42, exterior washer element 43, and connecting pin 44. Stem 39 is rigidly connected to the inside surface of dial 38 and includes rectilinear protrusion 46 extending along its length. Aperture 48 extends through the outer portion of stem 39. As is shown in FIG. 2, lock 36 is connected to front wall 29 by inserting stem 39 through aperture 35 from the outside surface of wall 29, placing interior washer 40, first locking element 41, second locking element 42, and exterior washer 43 over stem 39, and locking these elements in their respective positions by inserting connecting pin 44 through aperture 48 at the end of stem 39. Protrusion 46 on stem 39 cooperates with inward projections 49 and 50 of openings 51 and 52 of locking elements 41 and 42, respectively; that is, when dial 38 is turned, protrusion 36 engages inwardly extending projections 49 and 50 to turn locking elements 41 and 42. Detents 53 and 54 of locking elements 41 and 42 cooperate with locking protrusion 55 (FIG. 2) to firmly lock front wall 29 with bottom wall 24; that is, when detents 53 and 54 are in alignment with each other and positioned adjacent bottom wall 24, locking elements 41 and 42 are free to move over locking projection 55, whereupon front wall 29 can be locked to or unlocked from bottom wall 24.

As is shown in FIG. 4, safety container is connected to the inside surface of the back wall of the medicine cabinet by means of adhesive strips 56 and 58. When connecting container 10 to the medicine cabinet, a protective strip of material is removed from adhesive strips 56 and 58, and container 10 is pressed against the inside surface of the rear wall of the medicine cabinet. Thus, container 10 will be difiicult to remove from the medicine cabinet.

Because of the natural resiliency of the material from which container 10 is fabricated, front wall 29 will tend to extend in a horizontal position outwardly from top wall 28, before the container has been used. After the container has been used, and front wall 29 has been locked in its closed position, hinge 32 will become deformed, to a certain extent, so that front wall 29 will tend to take the position as shown in FIGS. 2 and 4. Thus, when front wall 29 is opened to gain access to the interior portion of the container and subsequently released, it will not move to a completely closed position. When lock 36 is opened, front wall 29 will move a small distance from its fully closed position; however, the subsequent act of completely opening the container by pivoting front wall 29 up to a horizontal position flexes hinge 32 so that when front wall 29 is released it will move back to a partially opened position, such as that shown in FIGS. 2 and 4. Thus, front wall 29 will remain partially open unless properly locked in its closed position.

While front wall 29 will remain partially open if not locked closed, it will not prevent the closing of door 16 of the medicine cabinet since door 16 will engage the lower edge of front wall 29 and merely urge front wall 29 toward its closed position. When door 16 of the medicine cabinet is subsequently opened again, front wall 29 of container 10 will flip back toward its partially opened position, thus alerting the user of its unlocked condition.

Hinge 32 is constructed so that it is unbroken along its length and no liquids that might be spilled in the medicine cabinet onto the outside surface of top wall 28 of the container will seep back down through the hinge into the interior portion of the container. Furthermore, when front wall 29 is open, hinge 32 maintains front wall 29 at an angle so that any water splashed toward the opening of the container will normally engage the outside surface of front wall 29 and run off its bottom edge into the sink which is usually disposed below the medicine cabinet.

The exterior configuration of hinge 32 is smooth and presents no protrusions or encumbrances that might interfere with using the upper surface of top wall 28 as a shelf inside the medicine cabinet. Thus, articles stored on the container can be slid off or removed from the container without obstruction.

While container 10 has been disclosed as being positioned in the bottom of a medicine cabinet, it should be apparent that adhesive strips 56 and 58 are positioned on back wall 27 so that container 10 can be connected to any flat vertical surface, at the top of a medicine cabinet or against a wall, etc. While lock 36 has been disclosed as a combination lock, it is believed to be within the scope of this invention to utilize other type locks, latches or connecting means. Furthermore, while the container has been disclosed as fabricated of polypropylene, other materials may be utilized.

What is claimed as my invention is:

1. A storage container for storing poisonous articles in a bathroom medicine cabinet including a horizontally disposed bottom wall, vertically disposed side walls connected to the opposite edges of said bottom wall, a vertically disposed back wall connected to the rear edges of said bottom wall and said side walls, a horizontally disposed top wall connected to the upper edges of said back wall and said side walls, a front wall pivotally connected to the front edge of said top wall and pivotal between opened and closed positions, said pivotal connection being a hinge having the characteristic of tending to maintain said front wall in an open position, an aperture defined in the lower portion of said front wall, locking means positioned in said aperture and a protrusion connected to the inside surface of said bottom wall adjacent said aperture for cooperation with said locking means.

2. A storage container for the storage of poisonous substances comprising a substantially imperforated box defining one opening, a door for closing said opening, a lock for maintaining said door in its closed position, and hinge means connecting together said door and said box for normally maintaining said door in its open position unless locked in its closed position, said hinge means is constructed so that said door pivots along its upper edge about a horizontally disposed axis.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,008,785 11/1961 Gehrs 312-209 3,104,131 9/1963 vKrone 312-244 X 3,185,534 5/1965 Peters 312209 3,210,139 10/1965 Ciervo 31239 3,298,764 1/1967 Goldfarb 312209 X CASMIR A. NUNBERG, Primary Examiner Us. 01. X.R. 

